Kolp: A survey of the issues that divide us in baseball

From SABR member Tess Kolp at The Hardball Times on September 15, 2017:

While baseball brings people together, there are many topics that still divide us, and I wanted to know how people really felt.

So I set out to find the topics that still are contentious. I had my own ideas of course, but I also took to Twitter to and asked, “What is something you’re really opinionated about that others disagree with?” Responses were generally in line with what I expected, with the designated hitter and pace of play issues being prevalent. Other issues people responded with were regarding the use of an automatic strike zone or “robot umpires,” the instant replay system, and the updated slide rules.

From there, I had to narrow down the question list to something manageable. Originally, I was going to ask more questions relating to bunting, but I decided that asking four or five questions about it would be too much. Other questions that got eliminated were “Should a team wear the same style of socks (tall, short, stirrup, etc.)?” and “Should managers wear the same uniform as players?” I decided these questions wouldn’t tell me anything particularly interesting, and when the survey felt too long, it made sense to cut these two.

Read the full article here: http://www.fangraphs.com/tht/baseball-survey/



Originally published: September 15, 2017. Last Updated: September 15, 2017.